How to Build a Stronger Team When You’re Not the Boss
A strong, supportive team has a huge impact on whether you enjoy the job and how your career is progressing. If you find yourself wanting to have better colleagues, here’s what you can do, even if you don’t have the power.
You will need to put a lot of energy into helping your team get stronger, so if you work or work for a company that you really don’t like, it may not be of any use to you. You don’t want to improve your team just to leave for something you like best. Better to spend your energy looking for another job or focus on how you can personally get through your workday without feeling unhappy .
Think about what qualities your colleagues should have
You need people who can adapt to the collaboration of your current colleagues. For example, you may have very supportive colleagues, but if someone cannot come up with something for themselves and constantly needs others to lead them, they will crush the entire group. You need people who will make your team stronger just by joining it, but who are also willing to contribute to create a better work environment for everyone. If they cannot grow with everyone else, they will eventually hold the group back.
If you’re not sure which qualities are key, here are a few places to start:
- What qualities do you most admire in your colleagues? What the hell are they missing, what would you like to have?
- What qualities have you received good reviews for? For example, during a review with your boss or while working with colleagues.
- What qualities are mentioned most often in job postings on your team?
- Are there any qualities of employees in your company that are highly valued? You can find them in the mission statement.
- What general abilities are needed? For example, being able to communicate directly with others is essential for most jobs. Anyone who cannot do this can cause interpersonal tension that will affect everyone.
Surround yourself with the strongest team, look for those who are different from you – from how they think to their past. Cultural fit may matter more than skills or qualifications .
Get involved in hiring great people
If you have the opportunity, get involved in the hiring process. You will have more influence over your colleagues. Find people in your network that you enjoy working with and recommend them. This is one of the best ways to build a strong team since you already know what kind of employee you have. Recommend only those you know will do well because their work might reflect on you as you vouched for them. As you comb your web, make sure the people you invite will like your workplace. Since you care about these people, think about their professional welfare as well.
If you don’t know anyone, attend networking events to recruit people. Better yet, go beyond traditional networking events by mentoring or joining a professional community. You will better understand whether you want to work with them, and they – in your company. Even if you only present one or two great candidates (and hopefully hire) a year, you would help build a solid recruitment.
Talk to your boss about participating in the selection and interview process for open positions. If you are qualified, help create job listings. Go beyond job responsibilities and required skills and think about the qualities you need to improve your team. Include qualities that you know are valued in your company and that make them strong colleagues, such as being open to feedback or ideas from others, or being willing to help a colleague. Once the candidates are introduced, take the time to prepare interview questions for them that will test their knowledge and ability to get the job done, as well as their potential contribution to group dynamics.
The most important thing to remember throughout this entire process is to make everyone feel included. If your referrals are hired, try to introduce them to other people on your team (office clicks don’t work for anyone).
Make sure everyone works together seamlessly
Set the right tone by doing your best to welcome new hires . First, talk to your boss about what new hires go through when they are hired. Let’s see if you can help improve this process. You may be able to create onboarding documents that new hires can use to better understand the tools and processes your team uses. You can even create a contact tree so that the new person knows exactly who to contact and on what issues – your current colleagues may even find this helpful. When everyone is on the same page, it’s better for you to work together as a team.
Even small gestures can make a big difference in creating a better workplace . If you’re ready to put in the effort, organize group events – like a happy hour for new recruits – to help everyone get to know each other better. I often organize play nights with my colleagues, which give us the opportunity to socialize outside of work. Since everyone is socially minded, we have the opportunity to have more personal or casual conversations. Be careful, however, you don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy, make any of these actions seem necessary, or make someone feel left out.
If your workplace uses a chat program and you have a group chat room, ask questions to spark the conversation. Try asking what people do over the weekend, whether they have book recommendations, or post interesting links about your work. Decide how often to do this so as not to distract your colleagues. In my experience, once a week works well because it doesn’t take up too much of you (or your coworkers’) time, but gives people frequent opportunities to chat. When new people join us, this chat room can also be a good place for them to briefly introduce themselves to everyone, instead of flooding their inboxes with e-mails or finding the right moments to introduce themselves individually. A chat room can also break down the barrier that prevents you from speaking like a new person, but don’t forget to reply back! Even a quick “Welcome, [new person’s name]!” does not allow a new person to meet with dead silence when he does speak.
Keep your team strong
Even with a wonderful group of colleagues who trust each other, you still need to make an effort to get things going in the right direction. It is best to be a strong colleague yourself. I hope you will set a good example for others while continuing to develop professionally.
Since cultural alignment is important to a successful team, make sure people are still working for your group’s dynamics. You want everyone to be a great employee so that everyone can help others with what they need — that’s the whole point of building a strong team. Here are some ways you can help your colleagues stay at the top of their careers:
- Give honest, actionable feedback. If your company does not conduct reviews, you can always send a review to your colleague by email or in person. Make sure they know that your intention is to help them develop professionally and not to criticize them on a personal level.
- Share resources and tools that people can use to teach. Most people want to be better. Help them by letting them know resources (like Lifehacker U ) they can use to enhance their education and keep up with the progress of your industry.
- Act as a bridge between parties having communication problems. Sometimes even the best communicators need help getting the information they need. If someone comes to you with concerns that another coworker has abandoned the project, find out in good faith what is going on. Find out what side of each person’s story is and come up with a few solutions to get the project back on track.
Building trust among colleagues goes a long way in helping everyone to work well together. Even if you are not in a leadership position, you can still influence who you work with. By making an effort to help hire great people and help them get settled, you will get colleagues you like and can learn from.